((Note to readers: If you havn't done so yet, please read the intro chapter of this before reading this one.))

"Hey, Reno, guess what? I've got a girlfriend now!"

I nearly dropped my cell phone. Don't know why it urked me so much to hear those words come out of Rufus. Of course he was usually one to jump into relationships without thinking much over it, so I had to give him 'The Interview'.

"That's nice, Rufus... But be careful, okay? How long have you known her, first off?" That was always the first question. It didn't hurt to be careful...

"I met her last year, it's fine, we've been friends for a while."

"What's her name?"

"Dianne. She's a great person, you should meet her."

"I intend to..." I murmured. Oh boy, wonderful... Always the hard part. I tended to get territorial over Rufus, not all too sure why. Probably because I'm paranoid he'd screw up with someone else. That or the fact that he got hurt easily by others, and he seemed to attract the one's with bad intentions. I just wanted to protect him from all that...

"Well she's over here now, so feel free to stop by."

"Yeah, I was about to drop by anyways, yo. See you then." I clicked off the phone and continued on my way. Well, if he did get a good girlfriend for once, good for him. He'd be one less person for me to worry about and I could see Rude more often. Maybe... I don't know, Rufus would probably still want me to visit, and we'd still mess around out of habit and addiction.

I came to the door of the large house, a bit hesitant to knock. Nervously, I fixed my shirt collar, something I only did when I was uneasy. I brought my fist to the door, tapping quietly at first, with each tap growing a little more confident until I gave a full knock. I knew immediately that Rufus was coming when I heard excited, loud footsteps coming quickly to the door. Rufus tended to rush down the stairs like an excited puppy when he was expecting me, heh...

And there he was in all his happy glory, glowing with delight, his golden blond hair, as usual, obviously gelled back. He wore a loose black tank tucked into his suit pants, something he'd only wear out of work. He nearly tackled me over with a hug, but being used to this I braced myself with a laugh. Immediately he tugged me inside, grinning like a moogle with a kupo nut.

Then I saw her. Dianne. And almost immediately I had a bad feeling about her. She was tall for a woman, a little lanky, but she had a healthy figure. Her hair was sort of brownish, kind of short. There was something about her that made me nervous. She looked kind of... I don't know, cruel... The kind of person who wouldn't put up with anything she didn't agree with.

Honestly, though I don't like to admit, I always have this fear of pushy people, or people in general hurting me. I flinch when anyone makes a quick movement, to tell you the truth. Hell, I even get scared around Rude when he gets angry, even when I know he'd never do anything to hurt me. It urks me to be in the presence of someone who thinks they have a certain authority over me, that they're better than me and that I'm some form of scum just because I'm different and not in the "norm" of society.

Anyways, I stood and smiled none the less as Rufus went about the long way of introducing us, repeating himself a few times as he always did when he was excited. She nodded to me, I nodded to her. There was no need or desire between us to shake hands.

Things went by pretty quickly, we ate, I popped a few of my usual jokes and teases at the table, including one towards Rufus. Usually he'd laugh along with me from comments like this one, but for some reason he stood and stomped up the stairs.

Watching with my mouth agape, I could only sit and wonder what his problem was. I didn't really say anything offensive... At least, nothing he worried about before. Dianne followed him. I didn't want to intrude, though, afraid of making things worse, so I rested my head on the table to think things through and let Rufus calm down.

It wasn't long before a bitchy female voice snapped at me from behind, "Come upstairs, we have to talk." I tilted back my head to see Dianne in all her stuck up glory, arms crossed, mouth twisted in a stern frown. It was those kind of looks that made me want to sink into a pit and burn away for all I'm worth, which wasn't much at the moment, apparently. But... Rufus liked her, so I tried to put up with her and complied with her requests. I followed her up the stairs with my brow arched, my fingers inching up nervously to scratch at my head. She'd lead me into Rufus's room, where it was a little dark, and I noticed Rufus was in the corner of the room curled up and looking... Well, pissed, upset, and hurt.

'Oh what the hell, what now?' I thought, my head lowering a little as a wave of guilt suddenly crashed into my mind. I didn't know what I did wrong, but obviously I did it, because Rufus was avoiding eye contact with me and Dianne was glaring pistols into my very being. I always hated the feeling of such an uneasy guilt, when I knew I did something but I didn't know what. It made me feel so small and stupid.

And then Dianne started scolding. She threw her arms out angrily and leaned towards me, making me shrink back a bit. "You now what, this is Rufus's house, and he allowed you to come and eat here. You have no right to make him so upset, and I wont stand for it!"

I only meekly nodded, giving out a slight whine of "Okay, I understand," but she just kept on going, talking about what trash I was to ruin a perfectly good get together for a meal, and how I needed to show proper respect and so on and so forth.

I could barely listen. It was far too much piled on me so quickly, and I still didn't understand. But she was pissed obviously, it was my fault, and Rufus wasn;t going to defend me like he usually would have done if someone talked to me like that. I even looked to him pitifully for some kind of help, for him to call her off and say she didn't need to over react, but he just gave me a glare and a pout before looking down at his knees. What was going on?! It was like he was so desperate to have a relationship that he'd suck up completely to the other person and wouldn't even consider himself or his friends anymore.

I was getting dizzy, and I felt a little sick to the stomach. When would she stop? I kept on nodding and saying okay, and yes, and sorry, but she only stopped when she knew she had me pounded so deep into the ground that I couldn't see daylight. At this point she promptly pointed to the door with an angry jerk of her arm, indicating that I get my sorry ass out of there immediately. And still, Rufus did nothing. And so I angrily but miserably stomped out the room and down the stairs, grabbing up anything I'd brought before I strode out the door with a growl. This was why I hated Rufus being in relationships. It was just like my dad, snatching up the opportunity for a possible partner and putting all concerns of his friends and family out the window. Hell, his girlfriends could beat the shit out of you in front of him and he'd only act as if it never happened, or that it was somehow right because they were the ones who did it. I hoped to whatever higher being there was that Rufus wouldn't be the same, though an emotional beating was just as bad as a physical beating in my view.

"Fine, Rufus, I'll play your game. I just hope you made a good choice, but so far, I aint seein' it." I mumbled to myself as I headed to the only place I could think of to find a little comfort. Home. Even if it was small and shabby, it was still where I lived. And even if my mom could be... Well, a plain bitch sometimes, she was still overall nice... And she'd leave me alone if I requested it...
I sighed as I reached the house, it didn't look like anyone was home, but that was okay. I went inside and almost like a zombie slinked to my room, where I flopped down on my mattress and somehow dozed off, despite being so upset. And so I slept, with no idea of all the trouble that would start the next day.

-TBC-